NPS Morning Report - Monday, July 16, 2001
- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Monday, July 16, 2001
- Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2001 12:01:01 -0400
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Monday, July 16, 2001
INCIDENTS
01-348 - New River Gorge NR (WV) - Follow-up: Flash Flooding
On July 8th, severe rains caused flash flooding throughout southern
West Virginia. Due to the impacts on the park, a Southeast Region IMT
headed by Bob Panko (Everglades NP) has been assigned to assist with
recovery operations. Efforts yesterday centered on community aid. Park
maintenance staff assigned to the incident used heavy equipment to
help the National Guard remove massive amounts of debris from the
neighboring community of Minden. The commander of the Guard unit
assigned to the Fayette county area gave high praise to the National
Park Service for its assistance. Elsewhere, river patrol rangers
provided water and other essentials to citizens of another neighboring
community. Thayer, the site of a dramatic NPS rescue operation during
the height of the flooding on July 8th, has been cut off from
vehicular access by a series of landslides. A trails assessment
conducted by the park staff was scheduled to be completed on Sunday.
Natural and cultural resource assessments will continue through this
week. A state contractor will begin work on the road to Thurmond
today, and this will likely cause some traffic delays in that area.
This road is a major access artery for both commercial and private
boaters. Safety concerns include vehicle congestion during cleanup
operations on very narrow, winding roadways, sinkholes and slides
created by the flood, and an unusual number of copperhead and timber
rattlesnake sightings in developed areas. Since the arrival of the
team, media attention has largely focused on the flood's impact on the
tourist economy. Attempts are being made to broadcast messages
regarding support of community recovery operations and resource
preservation. [Kent Cave, IO, New River Gorge Flood Incident, 7/15]
01-362 - Statue of Liberty NM (NY) - Special Event: Presidential Visit
President Bush visited Ellis Island on Tuesday, July 10th, to attend a
naturalization ceremony in the Great Hall. During that ceremony, 29
immigrants from 18 countries - all randomly picked New Yorkers - were
sworn in as U.S. citizens. The governor, mayor, attorney general and
New York's senators attended the event. The Park Police and Secret
Service provided security. The president arrived at and departed from
Ellis Island on the park staff boat, "Liberty IV;" members of his
staff and the press were transported on "Liberty III." The Park Police
provided four marine patrol boats, divers, an explosives dog, and SWAT
and patrol officers to supplement the LE staff at Ellis Island. The
Great Hall is in the main building at Ellis Island, and was the point
of entry into the United States for 12 million immigrants between 1892
and 1954. [Lt. Chris Pappas, USPP, 7/11; Brian Feeney, GATE, 7/11]
01-363 - Fort McHenry NM&HS (NY) - Special Event: Presidential Visit
President Bush visited Baltimore on July 13th, landing at Fort McHenry
with his staff in several helicopters. He posed for pictures with the
park's staff. Ranger Paul Plamann, who has worked in the park for 34
years, was one of the official greeters. This was the sixth president
he'd shaken hands with at the park. Said the president: "It is an
honor and a privilege to meet someone who has greeted so many
presidents." Incident management was coordinated with White House
staff, the Marine Corps and the Secret Service. There were no
incidents. Ranger Rick Apfel was IC. [Hugh Manar, Acting CR, FOMC,
7/14]
[Additional reports pending....]
FIRE MANAGEMENT
National Fire Situation - Preparedness Level II
Seven new large fires were reported yesterday, all in the Great Basin.
Eight large fires were contained - seven in the Great Basin and one in
the Northwest. Initial attack continued to be heavy in the Great
Basin, northern California and Northwest. Activity was light
elsewhere. Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Arizona,
California, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas,
Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
NICC has posted a RED FLAG WARNING for strong southwest winds and low
relative humidity in north central and southern Nevada, and a FIRE
WEATHER WATCH for strong winds and low relative humidity in western
and central Utah.
The full NICC situation report can be found at
http://www.nifc.gov/news/sitreprt.pdf.
National Resource Status (Five Day Trend)
Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon
Date 7/12 7/13 7/14 7/15 7/16
Crews 174 225 194 231 238
Engines 439 421 441 489 462
Helicopters 78 74 56 77 79
Air Tankers 3 7 1 3 6
Overhead 882 1,257 962 1,128 1,291
Park Fire Situation
North Cascades NP (WA) - Lightning moved across Stehekin and the
Okanogan NF on the evening of July 12th. Many strikes were recorded in
the area, and two fires were reported. Neither was verified by
detection flights.
Park Fire Danger
Extreme N/A
Very High North Cascades NP, Lake Mead NRA, Hawaii Volcanoes NP,
Carlsbad Caverns NP, Guadalupe Mountains NP
High Lassen Volcanic NP, Zion NP, Dinosaur NM
[NPS Situation Summary Report, 7/15; NICC Incident Management
Situation Report, 7/16]
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MEETING AND EVENTS CALENDAR
This calendar appears every other Monday as an addendum to the Morning
Report. Please note:
o Entries are listed no sooner than FOUR months before an event,
except in cases in which registration dates close much
earlier.
o Brevity in submissions is required and appreciated.
o Please send along web sites for additional information where
possible.
o Asterisks (*) indicate new ore revised entries.
**********************************************************************
July 23 - 27: NATIONAL SPELEOLOGICAL SOCIETY ANNUAL MEETING,
Rockcastle, KY. Call 256-852-1200, or check http://www.caves.org/~nss.
[Sheila Lee, NCRC/WASO]
July 23 - 27: DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY BOARD (DAB) MEETING, Washington,
DC.
July 30: 2002 FACILITIES MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE, San Diego, CA. The
conference will be in April, 2002, but the due date for abstracts for
presentations and posters is July 30th. This DOI conference will
provide a forum for managers and staff to meet and exchange
information on facility management issues/topics and training related
to facilities and infrastructure operation, maintenance, management,
condition assessment, database management, repair, renovation and
rehabilitation. Submissions for papers must include the title of the
paper or poster, each author's name (including who will present the
paper if selected), author's agency address, phone, fax and email, a
short biography, and an abstract of fewer than 350 words. Send to Erin
Quinn, conference coordinator, at equinn@do.usbr.gov; for more
information, contact her at 303-445-2709. For more on the conference,
go to www.doi.gov/conference/facilities. [Dale Wilking, FMD/WASO]
July 31 - August 2: NATIONAL LEADERSHIP COUNCIL BI-MONTHLY MEETING,
Washington, DC. [NLC Journal]
* August 1 - 2: NATIONAL LEADERSHIP COUNCIL (NLC) MEETING.
August 3 - 5: 33rd ANNUAL LEWIS AND CLARK TRAIL HERITAGE FOUNDATION
CONVENTION. Pierre, SD. Contact the foundation at 406-454-1234.
[Sheila Lee, NCRC/WASO]
August 5 - 9: ANNUAL MEETING: ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA, Madison,
WI. Fore more information, go to http://www.esa.sdsc.edu/annual.htm.
[Sheila Lee, NCRC/WASO]
August 17 - 22: SEVENTH NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON NATIONAL SCENIC AND
HISTORIC TRAILS, Casper, WY. Contact: Partnership for the National
Trails System, 608-249-7870. [Sheila Lee, NCRC/WASO]
August 30 - September 1: "TECHNOLOGY FRIENDLY: MUSEUM USE OF MULTIPLE
MEDIA FOR INFORMATION DISSEMINATION AND COMMUNICATION," ANNUAL
CONFERENCE, ASSOCIATION OF AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUMS. Registration
deadline: August 10th. For further information, contact William
Billingsley, 2001 conference committee, 937-376-4944 ext. 123 or
wbillingsley@ohiohistory.org. [Bill Gwaltney]
* August 24: WASO RELOCATION. The Washington Office begins moving from
the Department of Interior building at 18th and C Streets to its new
office on 1800 G Street. Additional information has been received.
Here's the timetable for moves:
o August 24th - Administration and Natural Resources
o September 21st - Operations, Professional Services and
Cultural Resources
o October 5th - Offices of the Director and the Directorate
For more information on the move, check the associated web site:
http://165.83.219.72/wapc/themove.html. [Betsy Chittenden, WASO]
September 19-21: RIVER MANAGEMENT SOCIETY CONFERENCE, Wasilla, AK. For
more information, go to http://www.river-management.org. [Sheila Lee,
NCRC/WASO]
September 25-29: EIGHTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE, WILDLIFE SOCIETY, Reno, NV.
Call 301-897-9770 or go to http://www.tws.org. [Sheila Lee, NCRC/WASO]
September 29: NATIONAL PUBLIC LANDS DAY. An annual event in which
volunteers undertake projects to improve the nation's public lands.
Contact: National Environmental Education and Training, 202-833-2933.
[Sheila Lee, NCRC/WASO]
* October 3 - 6: NATIONAL RECREATION AND PARK ASSOCIATION ANNUAL
CONGRESS AND EXPOSITION, Denver, CO. For more information, check
http://www.activeparks.org. [Sheila Lee, NCRC/WASO]
* October 10 - 12: NATIONAL LEADERSHIP COUNCIL (NLC) MEETING.
October 15: NINTH ANNUAL LINCOLN SYMPOSIUM, Ford' Theatre NHS,
Washington, DC. The topic of this year's symposium will be the
conspirators. The program will feature an in-depth look at those
people who aided and abetted the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The
symposium is free and open to the public. No advanced reservation is
required. Seating is available on a first-come-first-serve basis. For
more information, call the park at 202-426-6924. [Donna Birchard, NCR]
* November 4 - 5: NATIONAL INTERPRETERS WORKSHOP, Des Moines, IA. For
more information, contact Brook McDonald at brookmcd@ais.net. [Sheila
Lee, NCRC/WASO]
* * * * *
The Morning Report solicits entries from the field and central offices
for its daily and weekly sections (below). The general rule is that
submissions, whatever the category, should pertain to operations, be
useful to the field, and have broad significance across the agency.
Additional details on submission criteria are available from the
editor at any time (Bill Halainen at NP-DEWA, or
Bill_Halainen@nps.gov). Ask for either incident reporting criteria
(issued by WASO, June 18, 2000) or general criteria.
Daily and weekly sections are available for news or significant
developments pertaining to:
Field incidents Interpretation and visitor services
Natural resource management Cultural resource management
Operations (WASO only) Memoranda (WASO only)
Requests/offers of assistance Park-related web sites
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Reports on "lessons learned"
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Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the
cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.
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